Cosa Nostra
by WritingWordsOfWisdom
Summary: He had been part of the Mob since he was twelve. And he had grown used to violence and deaths. He even killed some people himself. For the sake of the Mafia of course. But nothing would've ever prepared him for his next job. To get closer to the girl, so the Mob could get her father. It seemed easy. But that was before he met her. And before he made her a promise, of "Cosa Nostra."
1. Chapter 1

**This idea has been in my head for like the longest time ever. And so I decided to start yet another story.**

**Viewer Discretion is advised. This will be dealing with factors related to those of the Mafia, so be aware of future violence and gang activity. :)**

**I hope you like the first chapter of Cosa Nostra, it means "Our Thing" in Italian!**

Chapter One:

"Nice to see you again Russo." He spat, his voice filled with venom. "It's been a while, no?" He asked the trembling man in the corner of the dark room, a smile tugging to form at the corner of his lips as he looked at how scared the older man was. But he had to keep his straight face on. This meeting was for business purposes only. The single light on the ceiling illuminated his face, shining on his golden brown eyes, as he watched his latest hit. His messy blonde hair was specked with dirt and soot, an effect of his attempt to enter the building through the fire place.

He moved his neck from side to side, in an effort to relax his stiff joints. Late night shake downs were one of his favorite pastimes. And he was always elated when the Boss chose to send him out to collect his cut. He rubbed his hands together, cracking his neck. This was going to be fun.

"W-what do you want, Moon?" The older man asked, shaking in fear as he looked up at the towering boy in front of him. He his dark brown hair was disheveled, due to him being dragged down into the room by the boy in front of him. His skin was dirty with gravel and soot. And his clothes were ripped and tattered.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you know what I want, _Marco_." The blonde boy sneered. "But since you seem to have forgotten, allow me to help your memory. The Boss still hasn't received your side of the deal. And he's sent me to deliver a _message_." He folded his arms, staring down the man.

"I-I don't have the money with me." The man replied, his voice faltering in utter fear.

"Why not?" The blonde bellowed. "It's been two weeks and the Boss' been waiting. And the Boss don't like waiting. And you know who gets their ass kicked when the Boss gets impatient? _**I do!**_ Now where the hell is the god damned money?!" He roared storming over to the man and raising his foot. He brought it down hard, hearing a few harsh cracks as it came to contact with Marco's ribs.

The man screamed out in total agony as his hands instantly grabbed his now bruised ribs. "I'm sorry!" He yelled. "I swear I'll have it to you by next week. I just need a few more days to get it together!"

"You better." The blonde hissed, kneeling down and bringing his face to the agonized one of his victim. "Or else next time, I won't be as merciful." He stood up, gave the man another good kick in his back, resulting in another pain-filled cry. "I'll be back Thursday." He declared. "And you better have the money then." He began walking away, but then he turned back to give one last glance at the man. "You're so pathetic." He scoffed.

And with that, the boy walked out of the room, leaving the man writhing in pain. The Boss' goons were waiting outside for him, their arms folded and looking out for any cops or uninvited visitors.

"How'd it go?" The taller of the two asked. "You get the money?"

"No. The deadbeat said he still don't got it. I've given him till Thursday to hand it in." The blonde replied, gruffly. He wasn't happy that he hadn't gotten the money from Russo that night. The Boss had been on his back about getting it all week, and he would definitely not be happy to hear that they still didn't have it.

"Boss ain't gonna be happy." The smaller one said, as they began walking out of the building, casually, as if they hadn't done anything wrong.

"You don't think I know that?" The blonde barked. "We'll just have to make him forget about Russo until I get the cash on Thursday."

"Uh, what are we gonna do about him?" The bigger goon asked.

The younger boy rolled his eyes in irritation. Just because they had been promoted to being "muscles", it didn't mean that they were necessarily smart. "Leave him. I'm sure one of his friends will notice he's missing, eventually."

"But what if no one does? And he dies?" The smaller goon questioned, worried.

"Then we're just going to have to hunt down his family Billy." The blonde spat, irritated. They were so oblivious and hard to work with. He never understood why the Boss or the underboss sent them out on collections with him. They weren't much of a help. And besides, he didn't need any protection. He had been doing this since he was twelve, five years ago. He could've taken care of himself. He didn't need anyone watching over him. "Let's just go back to the House."

"Alright." The two goons agreed and followed him out of the building and back to the dark van they had parked across the street. Since he still hadn't been given the privilege to drive, something he desired and hated that he couldn't, he was forced to sit in the back and let the two bigger guys fight over who would take the wheel.

"Both of you just shut up!" He snarled, annoyed by their bickering.

Both instantly quieted down. And the blonde couldn't help but smirk, proud of the control he had over them. Even though he didn't have any authority in the House, he was happy to at least have some on his tasks.

"Now Tom, you take the wheel and Billy you let him. And let's get the hell out of here before any cops get a hint and catch us." He instructed.

The men quickly complied, and he got in the back seat. Within minutes, the building was a little blip in the distance behind them.

* * *

He sighed as they parked and he stepped out of the van. It had been a long night for him. The Boss had sent him out on three collections that night. And none of them had been easy. At all. Tired and irritated by everything that had happened that day, he was just hoping to be able to tell one of the elders or the consigliere about his progress and then be able to head back home and call it a night. And hopefully his uncle wouldn't be home, or if he was, he wouldn't question what he had been called to do.

He slowly entered the House, as they called it. It wasn't really anyone's house. No one actually lived there. But people were often known to stay the night. Heck, he had done so a few times himself. The building was more like a clubhouse, you could say. But they called it the House, because it gave the property more authority and a fear factor. There was nothing really to be scared about it, when you looked at it. It just seemed like a normal office place. But the fear came in when you learned about who was affiliated with it. And the Mordaci Mafia was not something to be taken lightly. They unofficially controlled everything in Miami. Which means they regulated everything that went on, but of course, no one would dare to even try to stop them. Except the police. But even though they knew that mostly anything bad that occurred in the city, was related to the Mafia, they were never able to get any real proof to convict any members of crimes.

His heart dropped as he walked into the building. Three guards were stationed outside of the wooden doors of the meeting room. Which only meant one thing. The Boss was there. And he was either talking with someone or he was waiting for that person to arrive. And his pulse only raced harder at the realization. This was either really bad, or really good. And knowing damn well that nothing remotely good ever happened, he was pretty sure that it was the latter. What if the Boss had heard of his failed job with Marco? What would he say? The Boss would definitely have his head for it. Or worse, he would be made to "disappear", which in Mob terms, did not end well.

"Boys." The blonde walked up to them nervously, nodding at each of them. "How's it going?"

"Boss wants to see you." One of them replied harshly.

And the blonde felt his heart drop to the bottom of the chest. The Boss wanted to see _**him**__._That most definitely meant he had heard about what happened with Marco. But how could he have found out so quickly? The blonde gulped. Sure, he had seen the Boss before. But it was only on rare occasions. He had met him when he first got into the Mafia. And he only saw him when they had full-clan meetings, which weren't very common. He didn't even think the Boss knew his name. He never talked to him. The Boss always sent out one of his henchmen to tell him a message and sent him out on collection duty. He had never spoken him with directly.

"Me?" He asked, feebly.

"Yea. He's been waiting for you all night." Another answered.

"Oh." The blonde gulped, nervously. Okay, this was certainly not going to end well. But before he could say anything else, his arms were grabbed and he was thrown through the wooden doors.

He got up, grunting, preparing to turn back towards the guards and say some well-meaning words, but before he could, he saw that he was standing face to face with The Boss. Salvatore Mordaci. The most feared man in all of Miami, was standing right in front of him, and observing him intently. His balding scalp and dark eyes, filled with experience and wisdom, but usually full of anger and pure hatred, helped to aid in his towering personality. If fear had a mascot, it would definitely chose to be him. His mouth was curled in a smirk, and this time, his eyes were tainted with nothing but amusement.

"Austin." He smiled. "Nice to see you again, boy."

"Uh, you too, sir." The blonde said, stumbling on his words. He was undeniably surprised at the older man's warm approach.

"Well?" He questioned. "Aren't you going to give your godfather a hug?" He opened his arms.

Let me explain. Austin Moon. Clearly not a name that sounds like it should belong in the Mafia. And I understand your confusion. So let me set things clear. Austin's parents had died in a plane crash, when he had only been twelve. He, fortunately, had not been on the plane. One of the engines had died out, causing the plan to crash and all of the passengers and crew to have died on impact. Having no other relatives who were willing to take him in, but his mother's brother, Joe Marino, he was forced to move from his home in Denver, Colorado, to Miami, Florida with his uncle and aunt. Now his mother's family had chosen not to be part of the Mafia, when his great-grandparents and other families that were now affiliated with the Mafia, had first moved to the US from Italy. So Austin grew up, not being near any of the violence. But when his uncle had fallen in love and married Valentina Gambino, whose family was indeed part of the Mob's activity, he had chosen to become a member. And when Austin had moved in with the two, he had suddenly been brought into the world of violence and illegal activities. The head of the Mob even becoming his legal godfather. And at the ripe age of 17, he was already a full member of the Mafia himself. Something that no one else could've done. And something he was well respected for, even though the elders still thought of him as a cugine. Which annoyed him to no end, because he was not a young Mafioso who wanted to be "made". He had been "made" the minute his uncle had taken him along on one of his missions.

"Oh, uh, sorry." Austin mumbled, awkwardly walking up to the man and giving him an uneasy hug. Yes, even though Salvatore Mordaci was indeed his godfather, it didn't mean that he was given any slack by the other members. In fact, it was the exact opposite. They expected more of him, with less trip-ups. And even though he was Salvatore's godson, the man never spoke to him. The title of godson and godfather, was just that to him. A title. So of course, Austin was thrown completely off guard by the man's sudden willingness to be warm and friendly. Salvatore Mordaci was never one to be friendly. Ever.

"So, how were your collections tonight?" Mordaci asked, stepping away and taking a seat in one of the chairs along the huge wooden table.

Austin realized that there was no point in lying to him. So his plan of hiding the news until Thursday was a bust. "I got the money from Bruno and De Luca. But Russo still didn't have it. But he promised to have it on Thursday." He quickly added, awaiting the Boss' explosion, as he sat down across from him.

"Oh, that's fine." The man waved it off. "I have a more interesting mission for you, Austin." He said. "It's much more important."

"What kind of mission?" The blonde asked, curious. This definitely had to be important, or else his godfather wouldn't be telling it to him personally. He would've sent one of the others to tell him.

"Patience, boy." The older man laughed gruffly. "The plan hasn't been set up, but I just wanted to know if you were interested."

Of course when he said that, he wasn't really offering him to do the mission. He was commanding him to. No one said 'No' to the Boss. Unless they were stupid and didn't know the consequences.

"Sure." He answered, smiling weakly.

"Excellent." Mordaci beamed. "Very good."

"Um, sir, may I ask, what exactly am I going to have to do?" Austin questioned, nervously. He wasn't one to get worried about tasks, but there was a feeling in his gut telling him to watch out for this one.

"That hasn't been finalized, yet. But it does have to deal with some new residents in our wonderful city." The man beamed, evilly. "A father and daughter pair. By the last name of Dawson."

"In all due respect sir," he began. "But why are we targeting a father and daughter?"

"Don't worry about that, Austin." The Boss assured. "You'll know everything in good time, my boy. All in good time."

* * *

**So how was that? I won't be focused as much on this story until I finish "The Plan." But this idea was just begging to be written, so here it is. It's much different than something I would usually write about, but I kind of like it, I hope you do, too. I will update this though, if I get a good response. So let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

A girl. The mission involved a girl. Well this ought to be interesting. He had never actually dealt with a girl on any of the tasks he had been sent on. There had been girls before, of course, but they had never been the main focus. Usually he had to get payments from deadbeats. He was an enforcer, meaning he collected cuts from people who owed the Mob. And it was a job he quite enjoyed doing. People would go through a lot to try to gain mercy and have him expand their payment due date. And he was pretty merciful. The first few times. But if you took advantage of that, then you won't see what's coming for you. But that's beside the point. The only thing running through his mind now was how a girl was involved. A female. A member of the opposite sex. And he was going to meet her. Soon.

"What's her name?" He asked, curious to know. Sure he had met girls before. It was obvious. But had never before had to actually meet one because of his "family".

And yes, he did consider the Mob a family. Heck, everyone in it did. They were like a family. They had to protect and watch out for each other, even though they all actually came from different families of their own. But whenever they all gathered around, it was like a huge reunion. And every member of the Mob welcomed any other member openly. He could go to some other member's house and they would warmly let him in. Well, most of them would. Some people, like the elders, were still uncertain whether or not his loyalties lied with the Mafia. They didn't trust him, just because he wasn't a blood-member of the Mob, meaning that he didn't come from anyone whose relatives were original members of the "family". And they further despised him because he was Mimi Marino's son. Whose grandfather had decided not to join when the Mob first began. And even though his uncle had been accepted instantly, because he had married into the dirty business, since he himself had no immediate relations within the group, they were not very pleased with anything he did, to put it nicely. They criticized every job that he did, always saying that he could've done better or that he should've been more careful. And Austin was getting really annoyed with it. The elders and capo were always on his ass, but they were never as judgmental with the other younger members. And he knew well enough that it was because they came from families who had always been part of the Mob. So he was hoping that this job would finally let him gain their approval.

"You're very eager, I see." The don laughed loudly. "You should be careful about that, boy. I've seen eagerness be the downfall of one too many made men. It even led to the demise of my own father, when he was the Head. Thankfully, I was able to restore order and take command before things got too out of hand. And I see great potential in you Austin. You will be a great capo one day, I know it. And you may very well become the Boss, too. I can see it in you."

"T-thank you." The blonde said, surprised at the compliment. Even though he didn't know his godfather all that well, he did know that the man wasn't one to praise easily. He was being quite friendly at the moment, something that caught Austin off guard and made him be suspicious of the older man, wondering if there was something he was hiding from him.

"Ah, the girl, yes." Mordaci said seeing the boy's curiosity and leaned back in his chair and interlocking his fingers. "Let's see, what was her name?" He attempted to recall.

Austin leaned in closer across the table, on the edge of his seat. And not just emotionally speaking. He was literally on the edge of the leather chair. He wanted to start this job as soon as he could, and show to the older members that he could be responsible and handle an important task. And his nerves, were also influencing his strong anxiety.

"I remember that her name is Ally, and she's your age, I believe." The older man finally answered, after being quiet for a few minutes. "And she will be attending Marino High with you. Which is exactly why I chose you to be a part of this. I could've picked any other of the younger members who go to school with you, so don't mess this up. Or else the other buttons and older members won't just be on your back, they'll be on mine. And if they're on mine, I'll be on yours. Got it?"

"Yes sir," Austin nodded quickly and in understanding. This new task just gotten a whole lot more serious. And he didn't even know exactly what his part in all of it would be. But whatever it was, he was going to have to do it with his life. He didn't want to mess up and give the rest of the "family" any more reasons to be against him joining. And he definitely didn't want to get on the bad side of his god father, because he was a cruel, harsh, and cold-hearted man. And no one knew exactly what he was capable of doing when he really didn't like you, and the blonde sure didn't want to be the first person to find out.

"Good." The older man beamed, satisfied. "Now that we have an understanding, we can go on with the details. They're not all sorted out yet like I said before, but we have a general idea as to what we're going to do."

The Boss paused, looking intently at the younger boy in front of him. As if he was contemplating whether or not to continue with his train of thought or not. He knew how Austin was. He had watched him closely and with amusement since the first day he had joined the group. He had always been determined and eager to go on tasks with the older men, wanting so badly to be one of them. It was the same fiery passion that had once burnt it him, when he had been younger and when he was first introduced to the inner workings of the Mafia. The blonde boy reminded him so much of his younger self, and that was why he had grown fond of him, and quite quickly too. And why he wanted what was best for the boy. He didn't want him to face the heartbreak that he had to experience when he was his age. And knowing quite the information on this Ally girl and seeing how pretty she was, he was worried that his godson would end up putting his feelings in front of his job, similarly to what he had done. Or he would end up having his heart broken, or better yet, breaking the girl's heart, which in turn, would've made him upset.

"Austin." He sighed, looking back up at the boy. "You have to promise me one thing."

"What is it?" The blonde asked, confused. His godfather looked so vulnerable and depressed, something he never let anyone see. At least not in public or in front of the others. He had always maintained his cold and serious exterior, never showing any signs of being phased. So what was going on now, to make him seem so sad?

"Promise me, that no matter what, you won't let your feelings get in the way of completing this job." Salvatore spoke, his dark grey eyes locked on the brown ones of the boy.

Austin was completely taken aback by his words. Why would he ever let his feelings stop him from doing something that he had been assigned to do? His loyalties lied with the Mafia, and he would do anything to prove that to the elders. He would definitely not let anything, or anyone, influence that. "I promise." He replied, confidently.

"Good." The man said, noticeably more at ease and returning back to his normal serious self. "You're job is going to be to get closer to the girl. Make her feel comfortable around you. Become her friend if you have to. As long as she can trust you."

"Okay," the blonde said, thinking it over. Get close to the girl. But not too close, obviously. As if that was going to be a problem. He had gone out with plenty of girls before, without ever developing any feelings for them. So why would this time be any different? "When do I start?" He questioned.

"That hasn't been fully organized yet, but I'll let you know when it it. You're free to go." Mordaci spoke and motioned towards the door. "Have a nice night."

"You too." Austin responded, standing up from his seat and going towards the two wooden doors.

"And make sure you get my dough from Russo."

"Will do." The blonde saluted him, before walking out of the room.

The Boss sighed, leaning back in his chair, crossing his legs on the table in front of him. He really hoped that they boy wouldn't fall for the girl. But something was telling him that he probably would.

* * *

"What did he want?" One of the guards asked Austin as they made room for him, so he could pass through them.

"I'm going on another job." The blonde answered casually. He had learned through previous experiences, that the less other members knew about your tasks, the better. For them and for you.

"What are you doing?" Another asked.

"Some random thing." He spoke, trying to play it off nonchalantly. "Well, good night." He added quickly before leaving the House. He didn't need them asking anymore questions.

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" One of the cugines asked, as Austin walked out of the building. "Why, it's the snitch!" He snickered, his gang of buddies following along.

"What do you want?" the blonde hissed, annoyed to see the group of them. They were some of the people who didn't approve of his membership, since he had been admitted without following the regular procedure. But it was because he hadn't grown up being a part of the Mob, so he was a different case. But these boys despised him for it, because he didn't have to wait to be made and they still were, and they actually came from families who had been part of the Mob since it began. He had become a full member at the age of 17, when they were still waiting for their admission. And it annoyed them to no end knowing that he was better than any of them ever could be and he hadn't even grown up being trained.

"We're just hanging around." The brown-haired boy replied, his voice tainted with pure hatred and disgust. "What about you? I heard the Boss wanted you to come in. What was that about? Did you have another fuck-up on one of your collections? You see, if I was you, I would never mess up."

"No, I didn't have a fuck-up, _**Vincenzo**_," he replied, emphasizing the name with disdain. "Oh, but how many collections have you gone on? Oh, right. I remember. _**None.**_"

"You better watch it Moon," Another boy growled, the sentence hitting a weak spot for him and Vincenzo. They truly hated how he hadn't been allowed to go on any collections by themselves and Austin was. In fact, all of the cugines despised him because of it. But Austin didn't care. Who were they to him? Nothing.

"Or what, Antonio?" The blonde asked, laughing haughtily. They're threats were weak and pointless. They had no authority over him. He probably had control over them, if anything.

"Forget it guys," another one of them spoke up. "Let's just leave him alone." His name was Paulo, and he was the nicest one of the boys. He never really said anything, but always tried to break things up before they became violent.

"Whose side are you on Paulo?" Vincenzo turned to face him angrily. "You want to go and defend that rat? Then go ahead."

The younger boy froze in fear, not saying a word, just looking at the older boy towering over him. He was completely and utterly terrified of Vincenzo, which was the only reason he stuck by him.

"I thought so." Vincenzo smirked, stepping back to face Austin. "If you didn't mess up, then why were you called to come in? Did the Boss break you? I'm sure he probably did. Even if you didn't fuck up tonight, he probably got sick and tired of having to clean up your messes."

"You guys want to know why I was called in? Fine." The blonde growled, getting seriously fed up with their bullshit. They were just jealous that they would never be as successful as him. "I actually got a new job. And the Boss wanted to talk to me about it personally."

"He's lying." One of the other boys, Luigi, spoke up. "Why would the Boss want to talk to _him_ about it? He doesn't even know who you are."

"Why would I be lying?" The blonde countered. None of them knew that Salvatore was his godfather. It was a secret that only he, his uncle, a few older men, and Salvatore himself were in on. And they would've liked to keep it that way. "And to answer your question, it's a really important task and he wanted to talk to me about it himself."

He knew that he shouldn't be telling them too much about what he was supposed to be doing, but they got him so fired up and angry. They thought that they were better than him, just because their fathers were part of the Mob and because the elders did approve of them. And that everyone in the "family" trusted their loyalties. But just because he came from a family who had refused to be a part of the "Underworld" as they called it sometimes, it didn't mean that they were better than him.

"Whatever." Vincenzo scoffed. "He'll probably mess this one up like he always does anyway."

Austin's blood was boiling and running through his veins. This was it. He was really sick and tired of their crap. And he couldn't take it any longer. He was fed up. Done. "That's it." He hissed and tackled Vincenzo onto the ground, pummeling his face with punches.

And the next thing he knew, he and Vincenzo were both rolling around the dirt concrete, fighting each other. The other boys were just watching them, totally enthralled by the scene going on right in front of them. But he didn't care. He had finally cracked from all of their comments and snide remarks. And it felt good letting out his anger, from everything. From them, and the elders' disapproving looks that were permanently etched in his brain, and the night's failed collection, and the feelings that he had been holding in since the death of his parents. Feelings of anger and sadness and hurt and guilt and pain. And it felt pretty damn nice letting out by beating on this shitface.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here?" A voice boomed from behind them.

The both of them instantly stopped their scrapping and looked up to see who it was. An older member, no doubt. And none of them wanted to get into any trouble.

"Shit." Austin mumbled when he realized that it was his uncle.

"What the hell is going on here?" The man asked again, but this time his voice growing impatient.

"Well you see, we were just standing here and talking. And Austin came out and all of a sudden, he was on top of me." Vincenzo lied, sounding hurt, as if he was the victim in the situation.

"You little lying scumbag." Austin growled, preparing the pounce on him again, and this time finish what he started.

"That's enough, Austin." His uncle pushed him back. "Now get in the car. I'll be there in a few minutes. We'll finish this later." He commanded, roughly.

Vincenzo smiled evilly at the blonde before returning to his 'injured' façade.

"But," Austin protested. It wasn't fair for his uncle to be on Vincenzo's side in all of this.

"I said, get in the car. Now." Joe ordered.

The blonde sighed, defeated, and turned around from the group. Making his way to his uncle's black Porsche, which was parked in the back of the building. He turned to face the gang, sending them each a heated glare. They were all just smirking at him, their arms folded.

"Austin!" His uncle shouted, clearly pissed off and annoyed.

"I'm going, I'm going!" He yelled back, fuming himself. He turned back around, to face the parking lot and continued to the car.

This was definitely not what he was expecting. He didn't know why his uncle had been at the House in the first place. And he certainly wasn't happy that he had broken up the fight, or that he was supporting Vincenzo and believing his story. Now it was unquestionably going to be a long night. He was no doubt going to get a lecture from his uncle when he came back. And he wasn't in the mood to hear it.

* * *

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I know this chapter wasn't that good, but I just wanted to update as quickly as I could. I'll try to introduce the actual plan in the next chapter and get everything in motion. I don't know when the next time I'll be updating this will be. But it will depend on what free time I have, because I'm really focused in trying to write the sequel for "The Plan". So I probably won't update this for a while. But it also depends on the response I get, so let me know what you think and feel free to offer any suggestions.**

**:)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

He sighed, irritated, to himself, as he waited for the arrival of his uncle. He shifted his position in the leather seat of the car, maneuvering his body so that he was facing the window and closed his eyes. All of the stress of that night had finally gotten to him, and he felt as if he was about to collapse from exhaustion. And the fact that he had to go to school the next morning, well technically that morning, since it was past midnight, was definitely not helping his mood.

He jumped, startled at the sound of the driver door opening and being slammed closed. He sat up in the seat, preparing himself for whatever scolding he was going to get from Joe for getting into a fight. But instead, the older man just sighed tiredly and turned the keys into the ignition, pulling the gear shift to drive. This was worse than he thought. His uncle only gave him the silent treatment when he was seriously pissed off, which rarely ever happened. In fact, he hadn't gotten extremely mad at Austin in years. The blonde couldn't even remember the last time he did.

His uncle remained silent as he pulled out of the lot and turned onto the main road. His eyes stayed focused on the road, not even showing a slight tinge of emotion. His face was grave and tense, just as his entire body was. As he continued to drive the car, he didn't say a word.

"I'm sorry." Austin finally spoke, breaking the silence and tension. And there was so much of it in the car that a knife could've literally cut through it. He hated when his uncle was mad or disappointed in him, especially since he was his only family. He looked over at his uncle, who hadn't said anything, and was focusing his eyes on the road ahead of them.

"Austin." His uncle let out a long sigh. "Again? Really?" was all that he asked.

"What?" Austin defended. "I just couldn't help it Uncle Joe. They were finally getting to me. I just got so fed up with all of their comments. You don't know what it feels like to not be fully accepted here. You're an adult member, and everyone respects you. Everyone. But most of them still think I'm not loyal to the 'family'." He explained, slumping down in his seat.

"You think I don't know how it feels like?" His uncle turned to face him when they stopped at a red light. "Of course I do Austin. Heck, I wasn't fully accepted when I first married your Aunt Val and decided to join. No one was certain about my intentions. It took me years to finally gain all of their support. And it wasn't easy, believe me."

"Yea, well you didn't have to deal with people like Vincenzo or Antonio." The blonde huffed.

"Yea I did. Boy, you don't know how hard it was for me to be accepted. I joined at an 'old' age." He made quotes with his hands for emphasis. "You're lucky you got in when you were younger. It's much easier for you than it was for me."

"Sure it is." Austin scoffed. "I find that hard to believe."

"Believe you me, boy. I'm not one to lie often, and I'm being dead honest here. You wouldn't last a minute under the conditions I had to go through when I started off. I didn't have any connections to the clan, but you have me and your aunt. The elders are much easier on you than they were on me. Much easier."

"Whatever." The blonde mumbled, knowing that his uncle was right and there was no point in arguing. He turned to look out of the window.

"Just promise me that you'll try to get along with them Austin. If you ever want everyone to fully accept you, you have to show them that you are on good terms with all of the members, whether they are cugines or someone who is a true associate."

"I know." He sighed. "It's just so hard trying to stay calm when they keep on pushing me to break their faces."

Even his uncle laughed at this. "Oh I know. I've seen you as a kid. You always did get angry easily, especially over something you cared about. But you're going to have to learn to control it, and not let your anger, or any other emotions for that matter, to get in the way of you completing your task. Okay?"

"Fine." Austin agreed. "I'll try."

"Good." His uncle smiled. "Now speaking of tasks, what did your godfather assign you this time?"

"Oh, it's nothing." He waved it off, as it weren't important.

"Don't say it's nothing. It's obviously something big since Sal wanted to talk to you about it personally. So you better tell me, or I won't let you go to school tomorrow." Joe joked, knowing full well how his nephew felt about his education.

"Technically, it would be today, since its past midnight. And that would actually be more of a reward then a punishment." Austin pointed out.

"Don't be a smart ass. Now tell me." The older man commanded.

"Fine." The blonde sighed. "He wants me to be a part of the big new mission. And he wants me to get closer to the girl whose father we're after, so that it will be easier to get the man to us." He explained, all in one breathe.

"That's great!" His uncle beamed, as they pulled into the driveway. "This could finally be your chance to win over everyone's approval!"

"Yea, I know. I was thinking the same thing." Austin said, while they got out of the car.

"You better not mess up in this one. You can't risk one tiny mistake," his uncle told him, speaking gravely.

"When have I ever messed up on anything?" He asked, offended.

"Do you want me to bring up the LoFaro incident? Or what about the Cretellas? Or the Casales? Should I even bring up tonight-."

"Okay, okay. I get it." Austin snapped. "So maybe I have made mistakes on a few occasions. But who says that I will this time? I know that this is serious, and I know that I'll have to take it seriously." He told the older man as they walked into the house.

"Good. You should." Joe smiled, amused at his nephew's anger. "Now go off to bed. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. We're having a full clan meeting to discuss this mission after school. So don't be late, since I'm not gonna be home all day."

"You mean today." The blonde indicated, matter-of-factly.

"Go to bed." His uncle ordered, bringing his hand to bonk the boy on the head.

Austin ducked, narrowly missing getting smacked and zoomed off to the stairs. "Good night!" he called as he started climbing up them.

"Night!" His uncle shouted back, before heading off to the living room to watch some late night television. He wasn't much of a sleeper, especially considering that he had been woken up by a phone call earlier advising him to go to the House. He too had been assigned a part in the task. His job was to watch over his nephew and make sure he got close to the girl, but not too close so that he possibly could sabotage everything. He wanted his nephew to be accepted as much as the boy wanted to himself. And being part of the group for a while, he knew that if Austin did well on this mission, then all of the elders would finally respect him and think of him as an honorary member of the clan.

And he really hoped that the boy did the job right, for his own sake, as well as the one of the Mob.

* * *

Austin woke up that same morning, still feeling tired from the previous nights' events. And on top of it all, his hand was bruised from the few good punches he had been able to get in during his brawl with Antonio. And luckily for him, Antonio didn't have a good aim and his face remained unscathed. But he knew the boy's was definitely harmed.

He got up from his bed and made his way slowly to the bathroom. He got an Ace bandage and wrapped it around his fist, being careful as to not be to forceful and cause the hand any more pain. And he knew that he was going to have to come up with a good excuse for his teachers and friends as to why his hand was wrapped up. Because they obviously wouldn't believe him if he told them that he got it from working in the Mafia. Sure, everyone feared them. But no one would think that he had some connections with the notorious group. And he preferred to keep it that way.

He went back to his room and put on some random clothes. And then he skipped down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, surprised to see his uncle standing by the stove and cooking some eggs.

"Morning." The older man nodded as he saw the boy come in.

"Morning." Austin repeated, confused. "Shouldn't you be at the House?" He asked.

"I got a call saying to stay here for the day, because of your little disagreement with Antonio last night." He explained.

"What? Why? It's wasn't your fault." The blonde protested.

"Yea, well you know Antonio's father is part of the council. So of course he wasn't too happy when his son came home with a busted lip and bruised eye."

"But that isn't fair. They shouldn't make you stay here because of me. I should be the one under probation." Austin said, feeling guilty that his uncle was being punished as a result of his actions.

"That's the council's orders. And you know you can't disobey them. Now how do you want your eggs?" His uncle switched topics.

"I'm not that hungry, actually. I'll just get dressed and head out." He answered, suddenly not in the mood to eat. Had the council finally gotten fed up with him? And if they had, why where they holding his uncle accountable for it? The man hadn't done anything. It was all him. He didn't want his uncle to be punished for his actions. It wasn't fair.

"You shouldn't be upset over it. I don't care that much. And neither should you." Joe shrugged. "It's not that much of a big deal. Just tell anyone who doesn't know the truth that I wasn't feeling well or something. And you shouldn't let it get to you."

"But it's not fair. They should be putting me on probation. I'm the one who got into the fight!" Austin defended.

"You're a part of the new task, they can't do that to you without putting everyone else in jeopardy. I don't have a job now, so it makes sense." The man explained. He didn't want his nephew to know that he had gotten assigned to monitoring him. He knew the boy would get pissed off knowing that the Mob didn't trust him with doing the job on his own.

"Morning boys." The blonde heard a familiar sweet voice and turned to the kitchen entrance, seeing his aunt standing there.

"Hey Aunt Val." He waved uneasily.

"Morning dear." His uncle nodded, also feeling anxious. Both of them could clearly tell that the woman wasn't happy.

"Care to explain to me what the hell happened last night?" she asked, her voice rising in anger as she walked into the room. "I woke up in the middle of the night. With no sign of my husband or my nephew. Do you two even know how worried I was? And then you never came back to our room Joseph. I was wondering where you two were all night long!"

"I had to go out on some collections." Austin mumbled, nervously running his fingers through his hair. He knew quite well of his aunt's anger. He had gotten more than enough smacks over his head throughout the years to be aware of her blow-ups.

"What else?"

"The Boss wanted to see me and tell me about a new plan."

"I see." She nodded, in understanding. She was, after all, part of the Mafia herself. "I suppose the meeting today will be based on that?"

Austin nodded in response.

"And what about you?" she asked, turning to face her husband.

"I had to stop by and get some paper work." The older man quietly answered.

"Oh, I see. Then why are you under probation? And you, why is your hand bruised up boy?" she placed her hands over her hips.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it, sweetheart." Joe tried to reassure her.

"Now that excuse would work if I wasn't part of the 'family', but since I am, that isn't gonna to cut it."

The two men looked at each other, contemplating as to who should tell her what happened the previous night. None of them wanted to experience her wrath of anger, because she tended to get quite violent for a petite woman.

"Well?" She questioned, stamping her foot impatiently. "Am I going to have to get it out of you two?"

"I ... um ... well." Austin stuttered, nervously.

Valentina gasped as she walked up to her nephew and began examining his face. "Austin Monica Moon, don't you dare tell me you got into a fight." She commanded.

"Okay, I won't." The blonde replied.

"Boy! What did I tell you 'bout fighting people?! It ain't gonna help no one!" She exclaimed, hitting him soundly on the top of his head.

Austin winced at the contact, bringing his good hand to caress his stinging head.

"It was with Antonio, wasn't it? What did I tell you about trying to make nice with all of them? Beating them up ain't gonna do you no good, boy!"

"I try to! But they just get under my skin and I couldn't help punching him straight across the face." The blonde protested.

"I don't need to hear it." His aunt cut him off with her hand. "I'm guessing that's why you're under probation?" She asked Joe.

"Yea." The man shrugged. "But it's nothing to worry about. I'm sure it won't last too long."

"Right." The woman nodded. "So, what's for breakfast?"

"Eggs, if you want him." Her husband motioned to the stove.

"Don't mind if I do." She said, grabbing a plate from the cupboards. "Austin, honey. You want any?" She questioned.

"Nah, I'm good." The blonde answered. "I'm not that hungry."

"Alrighty then. Now you better be getting off to school. I don't need you being late." His aunt instructed. She was the unofficial head of the house, and they all knew it, especially her.

"Fine."

"Have a nice day." She kissed his forehead before shooing him off towards the door.

He walked outside and got into his Mercedes. And yes, one of the perks of being affiliated with the Mafia was having a nice car. He started the engine and arrived at the school in minutes, anxious for the end of the day to come, so he could go off to the meeting.

* * *

Most of the members were already at the House when he drove into the parking lot after school. He knew, because of all of the cars that were there. But of course they would be there. It's not like most of them had to go to school for six hours a day. He sighed, getting out of his car and closing the door. He locked it behind him as he walked up the dirt path to the entrance.

The same guards as the night before were standing by the wooden doors as he walked inside.

"Boys." He nodded at them, hoping that they wouldn't say anything about what happened last night.

"We hear you got into a little trouble last night. That you're uncle got the blame for it." One of them said, amused.

"That's not important." The blonde hissed. "Now are you gonna let me through or not? I'm pretty sure that I'm entitled to be a part of the meeting."

"Not for long." Another one of them chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Austin growled.

"Oh, nothing, except that you may be getting the boot." The third one snickered.

"Like that'll actually happen." He snarled. "Now if you excuse me, I have to get going." He pushed past them and walked into the room. Everyone was already there when he came in. And I mean everyone. The consigliere, the buttons, the messaggeros, all of the muscles, the underboss, the soldatis, the entire group of designated capos, made people, the women, or the comares as they called them, the cugines, and of course, the Boss himself. Literally the entire clan had shown up.

"Look who finally decided to show up." Antonio remarked, receiving a cold glare from his mother and father. He had a black eye and a bruise on his cheek, and Austin had to bite his tongue to keep the smirk from crawling onto his face.

"Nice to see you too, Antonio." The blonde replied, through gritted teeth, trying his best not to tackle him. He could see his aunt watching him closely and he could picture her telling him to remain calm. "Sorry." He turned to face the entire clan. "I got into a little traffic on my way here, so sorry for the delay."

"It's fine boy." His godfather brushed him off. "Just have a seat and we can get started."

He nodded and took the only empty seat, the one at the end of the table and the one facing everyone else. Which of course, only made things worse, because now everyone could see him and whatever he did.

His aunt gave him a tiny smile, signaling that everything was going to be okay. She turned back to face Salvatore, he was sitting right across from Austin, on the other side of the table.

"We're all gathered here today to discuss our latest hit. And I know that we usually don't do this, but this time, this job is huge. And I want to let everyone in on it, since you will all have at least some job in all of this. And I want to make it all clear, so that there will be no confusion." The Boss explained, as the room fell silent and brought their attention to him. It was one of the things that Austin admired about the man. How he was able to bring fear into a room, just by walking in. Or how he could silence everyone in it just by saying a few words. He commanded attention and respect, and everybody knew that, whether they were part of the Mafia or not.

"I assume that you'll notify your husband on all of the details?" Sal asked, referring to Valentina.

"Yes, of course." The woman nodded.

"Good. Very well then, shall we proceed? Mancini, would you like to start?" He said to the consigliere.

"Yes." The man nodded, standing up from his seat next to the Head to address the entire room. "The man that we're targeting is Lester Dawson. He is a big real estate mogul, having a successful chain of trading companies all over the country. He has recently moved here with his only daughter from Chicago. He and his wife filed for a divorce years ago and he won custody of the girl. But anyway, that's not the point. As you know, the Giordano Mafia rules up there. And it has been reported that Lester was, and still may be, an associate of them." The consigliere spoke, pausing to take a breath.

"And since he has moved here now and we don't know if he will still be doing business with the Giordanos, it may be a problem to us. If Dawson is still connected with them, then that means he may be trying to communicate with them and be spying on our dealings. The Giordanos know that we have control down here, and they are willing to do whatever it will take to bring us down, they have for tried for years now. And if sending Lester as a snitch will help, then that's what they may do. So we're going to need to watch out for him and get the man to us." He finished.

"So if we want to get Dawson to us, why don't we just bring him over?" Antonio's father asked.

"Because." Mordaci spoke up. "That would be too dangerous. We don't know if he has anyone protecting him. And if he does and the Giordanos hear news that we captured him, we'll be thrown into a full out war. And that wouldn't be good. We've been feuding with them for decades, but actually starting a war will only destroy us at the end."

"So then how are we going to get him to us?" Another member asked, standing up.

"That's why we have brought you all here today." Mancini answered. "To explain all of it. The first thing that we have to do is find out if Dawson really is still an associate of the Giordanos. And if he is, then we move on to phase two. And if he isn't, then we still move onto phase two. Even if he no longer works for them, we're going to need him to be on our side."

"But why don't we just ask him to join us?" Vincenzo asked.

"You can't do that you babbo." Mancini snapped. "We don't know if he has back up or not. That would be way too obvious and put us all in jeopardy."

Austin couldn't help but snicker at this. The boy was an idiot. No one in their right mind would do something that would make them so vulnerable. And the kid wondered why he hadn't gotten made yet. He was a total fool.

Vincenzo shot him a heated glare and the blonde quickly turned away, chuckling to himself lightly.

"Anyway," he continued. "As for phase two, we're going to have to get him, but make it as secretive as possible. We can't bring any attention to ourselves, in case our plan gets discovered. We're all going to have to be careful. And we already came up with a way to do it." He smiled, smugly.

"I'll take it from here." Sal stood up. "We're going to have to get the man to trust us. Or one of us at least. And in order to do that, we're going to have to get to his daughter first. We know that he cares for her dearly, so all we need to do is get someone to get closer to her. She will be attending Marino High and we need someone to become her friend and get them to trust her."

Some of the cugines and young made members started talking simultaneously, saying how they would be perfect for the job and how they could do it. Antonio and Vincenzo were especially eager.

"We've already chosen someone for the job." The older man smiled. "It will be Austin." He nodded at the blonde.

And almost immediately, the entire room erupted in protests and disagreed with the decision.

"He can't do it! How do we know we can even trust him?" One of the elders, Ricci, stated.

"Yea! He could be on their side for all we know!"

"We should pick someone else, whose family has been a part of the clan since it began!" Someone else voiced disapproval.

"You can't pick Moon! Just look at what he did to my face!" Antonio whined.

"Yea! Just look at my baby! How can we put all of our lives in the hands of him?!" His mother complained.

"Quiet!" Valentina yelled, and the room instantly quieted down.

"Look, I know that my nephew isn't a blood member, but he deserves to belong here as much as any of you. He works hard and he's really dedicated. And who cares if his grandparents' chose not to join? It's not his fault, so we shouldn't blame him for it. At least he did. And I know that most of you guys aren't sure if his loyalties, but he is devoted to this clan. He has been since the day he first stepped into his house. And I'm sick and tired of all of you always looking down on him just because of where he came from or because you're jealous that you're sons haven't been made yet and he has. But can we just put that all aside for once and focus on this job?" She finished, out of breathe.

"I agree with Valentina." An older gentleman, by the name of Moretti stood up. He was one of the few people actually fond of the blonde. "Austin is a good choice for this job. I trust that he will do it well. And if you don't think he will, just give him a chance. Let him prove to you that he can do it, and if he can't then you'll be right. But if he does, then you're wrong. Just let him try and show you that he is capable of completing his part. You've all seen him go on collections. He's a good worker and there is no doubt in my mind that this time will be any different."

Austin, of course, didn't feel very comfortable being talked about as if he wasn't even in the room. He felt like he was some toy or prize that they were fighting over what to do with it. But it wasn't like he could say anything. It would only make things worsen for him.

Everyone started mumbling to each other again, and the blonde only felt more uneasy. He didn't like all of them talking about him and judging him. They never did to any of the other boys and he didn't get it. He worked just as hard as them. Even harder sometimes. So why couldn't they just give him a break?

"Let him do it." Ricci announced. "We'll give him a chance and see how he does."

"Good." Mordaci, who had been silent during all of the arguing, finally spoke up once more. "Then it's settled, Austin will get close to the girl, so we can get to Lester. Meeting adjourned."

Everyone nodded and mumbled their approvals as they all began standing up to leave.

Austin was the last one to go, letting everyone pass him. He got a few glowers from the boys, but he ignored them. He was too nervous about his job. Now the pressure was really on. The council had officially announced that they would give him a chance this time. And he knew that there was no room for mess ups, or else he would be screwed and he would never be fully accepted.

And he was certain that there wouldn't be any. He was almost positive about it. He wouldn't let himself screw up.

* * *

But that all changed once he actually met Ally Dawson.

* * *

**I'm so sorry for the wait! I've just been really preoccupied with my other stories and with school. And I'm sorry of it's not that good. I just wanted to update as soon as I could, so here you go. And I know I always say that, but it's true. **

**I'm really not that confident in my work most of the time. And I know that it's bad, but I can't help it. I just want it to be as perfect as can be and I get frustrated when it's not. But you probably don't care about that, so ….**

**Let me know how it was. And I don't mind any suggestions or criticism!**


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